Brodie Waddell
@brodiewaddell.bsky.social
5.4K followers 650 following 580 posts
Early Modern History at Birkbeck, University of London | Likes: archives, fatherhood, footnotes, the seaside. | Dislikes: Henry VIII, cars, inequity. My research: https://www.bbk.ac.uk/our-staff/profile/8004317/brodie-waddell
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brodiewaddell.bsky.social
Welcome new followers! I'm a historian of #EarlyModern England at @bbkhistorical.bsky.social, currently working on two projects: the #PowerOfPetitioning (petitioning.history.ac.uk) and the #WrittenWorlds of non-elite writers (writtenworlds.org). 🗃️
Front cover of The Power of Petitioning in Early Modern Britain, edited by Brodie Waddell and Jason Peacey. Screenshot of the landing page for the Written Worlds project website.
Reposted by Brodie Waddell
lucyallengoss.bsky.social
Did you know they burned witches in medieval times?

Right, now I've got your attention, here's some *actual* medieval witching - and it is entirely adorable, if slightly smutty.

lucyallengoss.substack.com/p/what-the-w...
What the Witch and her Cow-Sucking Bag can tell us about Early Modern Misogyny
Medieval witch stories, and a literary grandmother for the Wife of Bath
lucyallengoss.substack.com
brodiewaddell.bsky.social
One week to go until Lyndal Roper's talk at @ihr.bsky.social!

Register for the hybrid event here: www.history.ac.uk/news-events/...

And check out our other talks by @emilymayvine.bsky.social and @nailyas.bsky.social here: www.history.ac.uk/news-events/...
Reposted by Brodie Waddell
markhailwood.bsky.social
As you dig out your chunky knitwear from the back of the draw, I know you are wondering: 'How did people prepare for winter 400 years ago?'

Read today's post to find out (and whet your appetite for our new book The Experience of Work in Early Modern England)

manyheadedmonster.com/2025/10/07/t...
The Experience of Work in Early Modern England I: Winter is Coming
This post is part of a series that marks the publication of The Experience of Work in Early Modern England. The book is co-authored by monster head Mark Hailwood, along with Jane Whittle, Hannah Ro…
manyheadedmonster.com
Reposted by Brodie Waddell
historyworkshop.org.uk
How has paperwork served as a tool of empowerment for people who often find power elusive?

In our latest podcast, a group of historians, archivists, and activists met at the Raphael Samuel History Centre (@rshc.bsky.social) to discuss the hidden history of paperwork 🗃️🎙️
Changing The Record
How has paperwork served over time as a radical tool for empowerment and change?
www.historyworkshop.org.uk
brodiewaddell.bsky.social
The world is falling apart and UK higher education is a bin fire, but I've got two first-year BA modules this year at @bbkhistorical.bsky.social and the enthusiasm and curiosity of new Birkbeck students give me life.

They just want to learn about new stuff! And I get to help them do that!
The world according to Henricus Martellus, a German  mapmaker working in Florence in the 1480s.
brodiewaddell.bsky.social
It's really good fun and lots of the series are very well written. Even if you can't get it delivered you could check out the books by Phoenix authors.
brodiewaddell.bsky.social
The Phoenix comic is great for that age and some of the series in it have been turned into books.
Reposted by Brodie Waddell
annacusack.bsky.social
If anyone needs a freelance researcher in London (or across the UK), I'm your person!
I've reasonable rates, lots of archive experience & great recommendations from academics globally. I'm only teaching 1 module this term, as the job market is what it is. Therefore, I'm open to all work. DM me!
brodiewaddell.bsky.social
I can reassure you both that, in addition to being very very smart, all four are lovely human beings.
Reposted by Brodie Waddell
drnaomibaker.bsky.social
I just received the first copies of my book and I have to say it’s looking gorgeous! 😍 Thank you @reaktionbooks.bsky.social for making such a beautiful book #earlymodern
brodiewaddell.bsky.social
Who did what in early modern England?

New #OpenAccess book, 'The Experience of Work in Early Modern England' by @jwhittle.bsky.social, @markhailwood.bsky.social, @hkrobb.bsky.social & @aucointaylor.bsky.social, based on thousands of #EarlyModern court depositions 🗃️

Read it: doi.org/10.1017/9781...


This book applies the innovative work-task approach to the history of work, which captures the contribution of all workers and types of work to the early modern economy. Drawing on tens of thousands of court depositions, the authors analyse the individual tasks that made up everyday work for women and men, shedding new light on the gender division of labour, and the ways in which time, space, age and marital status shaped sixteenth and seventeenth-century working life. Combining qualitative and quantitative analysis, the book deepens our understanding of the preindustrial economy, and calls for us to rethink not only who did what, but also the implications of these findings for major debates about structural change, the nature and extent of paid work, and what has been lost as well as gained over the past three centuries of economic development. This title is also available as open access on Cambridge Core.
Cover of Whittle, Jane, Mark Hailwood, Hannah Robb, and Taylor Aucoin. The Experience of Work in Early Modern England. of Cambridge Studies in Economic History - Second Series. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2025.
Reposted by Brodie Waddell
hookland.bsky.social
Goodnight from Meek’s Ironmongery in Barwell, where the resident poltergeist is hammering nails into the walls to spell out some deeply rude words. Goodnight from David Moody, hearing the crow that lives in his stomach caw at the approach of the Wicker King. Goodnight from Hookland.
Reposted by Brodie Waddell
socialhistsoc.bsky.social
📣Reminder that the deadline is coming soon!
socialhistsoc.bsky.social
📢 Reminder: the deadline for the Social History Society Small Grants is coming up soon!

💷 Up to £1000 available to support research, events & activities in social & cultural history

🗓️ Apply by 1 October for events Dec–Apr
🔗 socialhistory.org.uk/funding/smal...
✨Apply today!
Small Grants
The Social History Society maintains a Small Grants Fund to support research, events and activities by members of the Society. We give priority to activities and research that would otherwise remai…
socialhistory.org.uk
brodiewaddell.bsky.social
Teaching starts this week, so may need to incorporate this into my intro slides. Students need to be ready to have their minds blown by the late age for first marriages in pre-industrial northwest Europe. 🤯
brodiewaddell.bsky.social
Sorry, kids. Prepare to be SHOCKED and OFFENDED by the high levels of rural proletarianization in seventeenth-century England.
BBC headline: be ready to be shocked and offended at university, students told.
Reposted by Brodie Waddell
evansmithhist.bsky.social
On the other site, I once quipped that one of the best public outreach activities that historians could do was accurately maintaining Wikipedia pages. This might be more prescient nowadays…
brodiewaddell.bsky.social
We've got a stellar set of speakers this term at @ihr.bsky.social. Come along an immerse yourself in the latest early modern history research! #EarlyModern 🗃️
ihrscb.bsky.social
We're back! 🎉 And we're thrilled to announce our term card for Autumn 2025! Our first event is on Thursday 16 October at 5.30 pm. Lyndal Roper will be discussing 'Turbulence and the German Peasants' War of 1524-6'. You can register to attend the event at: www.history.ac.uk/news-events/...
To attend, please register at the event of your choice here. If you have signed up but suddenly find yourself unable to make it, you can relinquish your spot by emailing: ihr.events@sas.ac.uk. If you would like to attend in-person and the event reads as fully booked, please do drop by anyway as we can always find some extra chairs!

Thursday 16 October, 5.30 pm to 7.30 pm
Lyndal Roper (University of Oxford), Turbulence and the German Peasants’ War of 1524-6
Please register here if you would like to attend.
Hybrid. Online-via Zoom & Room 243, Second Floor, Senate House

Thursday 30 October, 5.30 pm to 7.30 pm
Emily Vine (University of Exeter), Birth, Death and Domestic Religion in Early Modern London
Please register here if you would like to attend.
Hybrid | Online-via Zoom & IHR Wolfson Room NB02, Basement, IHR, Senate House

Thursday 27 November, 5.30 pm to 7.30 pm 
Nailya Shamgunova (University of East Anglia), ‘English and Scottish Scholars at the Global Library, c. 1500-1700’ 
Please register here if you would like to attend.
Hybrid | Online-via Zoom & IHR Wolfson Room NB02, Basement, IHR, Senate House
Reposted by Brodie Waddell
profelainechalus.bsky.social
For anyone who is #teaching #18thcentury politics and/or electoral culture, or is doing #localhistory or #familyhistory, do check out our ECPPEC web resource : it's chock-full of short informative essays, polling data, and artefacts #skystorians ecppec.ncl.ac.uk
Eighteenth-Century Political Participation & Electoral Culture
18th-century Britain is notorious for corrupt and restrictive politics, when few could vote, bribery and debauchery were commonplace. But it was also an age when modern democracy was being shaped.
ecppec.ncl.ac.uk
Reposted by Brodie Waddell
Reposted by Brodie Waddell
willpooley.bsky.social
it’s friday evening and now is as good a time as any to remind you all to JOIN A UNION
Reposted by Brodie Waddell
evansmithhist.bsky.social
I finally transferred to ad-free version of Wordpress, so that people had easier to my site, especially my list of radical online collections & archives (nearly 1000 collections listed).

It'd be great if people clicked on the link to see if it is all working!

hatfulofhistory.com/radical-onli...
radical online collections and archives
I am very interested in the growing amount of radical literature from around the world that is being scanned and digitised. As there are so many and from many different places, I thought it would b…
hatfulofhistory.com
Reposted by Brodie Waddell
onslies.bsky.social
Concerned by this #UKHE -wide drive. It clearly is a way of removing representation from governance structures (a Department has a voice, committees, & governance structure, a 'subject area' does not), however much consultants/HR deny it is.

Would be good to know how people protect representation.
willpooley.bsky.social
do you work in a university/faculty/school in the UK that abolished “departments”? willing to share experiences (by DM if preferred)? RTs also appreciated
brodiewaddell.bsky.social
Solidarity, Krista. That's a really tough position to be caught in! I hope the senior management see sense soon.
Reposted by Brodie Waddell
jenbaird.bsky.social
Term is coming up, time to decorate those office doors
drdanstewart1.bsky.social
Apropos of nothing, here's some posters I made for outside my office in case anyone wants them. Text on one edited from @blacktrowel.bsky.social, the other from an Eco article (both cited of course). If you'd like the PDF files, just email me. #antifascist #AncientBluesky 🏺
A poster titled "Don't Panic! How to fight fascism as a student of the past". 14 points are listed: 1. Document. 2. Work Together. 3. Leverage your skills. 4. De-escalate. 5. Beware entryism. 6. Know the tools of fascism. 7. Solidarity over charity. 8. Thank local, plan big. 9. Money works. 10. Get trained. 11. Grow your roots. 12. Push through discomfort. 13. Stay safe. 14. Remember, tolerance becomes a crime when applied to evil. A poster entitled "How to Spot a Fascist". Taken from an Umberto Eco 1995 Article in the New York Review of Books. 14 signs are listed: 1. The cult of tradition. 2. The rejection of modernism. 3. The cult of action for action's sake. 4. Disagreement is treason. 5. Fear of difference. 6. Appeal to social frustration. 7. The obsession with a plot. 8. The enemy is both weak and strong. 9. Pacifism is trafficking with the enemy. 10. Contempt for the weak. 11. Everybody is educated to become a hero. 12. Machismo and weaponry. 13. Selective populism. 14. Un-fascism through Newspeak.